Moving troopers causes concern
Assemblyman McLaughlin calls on Governor Cuomo to pull troopers back upstate from NYC
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y » Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to redeploy as many as 200 state troopers to upstate from New York City, where the governor recently assigned them to assist local police at airports and toll plazas.
McLaughlin, R-Schaghticoke, whose district includes parts of Rensselaer, Columbia and Washington counties and who is also a candidate for Rensselaer County executive, recently sent a letter to the governor urging him to bring troopers back upstate, where they are also badly needed.
“I am writing to express my deep disappointment regarding your recent action to place State Troopers in the New York City Metropolitan area,” wrote McLaughlin. “This arbitrary and capricious move severely impacts the manpower of the State Police, which protects, serves and defends the areas I represent, and I have strong objections regarding these actions.”
McLaughlin said he is concerned the move will leave upstate areas like Rensselaer County understaffed, leaving residents more vulnerable to crime. He cited a recent FBI report that ranked Troy as the fifth most dangerous upstate community, based on reported crimes.
“This matter is prescient because a recent FBI crime statistics report shows the City of
Troy in Rensselaer County as the fifth most dangerous area Upstate. Your deployment of State Troopers downstate adversely affects the residents of Troy along with Rensselaer, Columbia and Washington counties,” McLaughlin wrote in the letter.
McLaughlin said he believes the New York City Police Department is capable of patrolling the nation’s largest city without extra help from state police.
“First, Cuomo tried to take our guns away through the so-called SAFE Act, and now, he is exposing us to unacceptable levels of public protection because of a childish turf war he is engaged in with the mayor of New York City,” said McLaughlin. “New York City has one of the finest, if not the finest, police forces in the world, and the troopers who are patrolling New York City are duplicating the fine work they do.”
A New York Times article published June 26 stated some upstate commands could lose as many as 10 troopers a week to the downstate assignment. State police officials said those troopers are protecting vital state-owned assets and are doing so without impacting service anywhere else in the state.
“To be clear, our priority is the safety and security of all New Yorkers,” the state police said in an emailed statement Monday following a request for comment from Cuomo’s office. “And as such, these deployments are supported by $41 million in dedicated funding and have not impacted service in any other region in the state.”
McLaughlin said he recently called for state police Superintendent George Beach to appear before the Assembly and explain how the redeployment is truly affecting the safety and wellbeing of upstate residents.
“I will continue the fight to make sure my constituents in Rensselaer, Columbia and Washington counties receive the adequate law enforcement resources they need to combat crime in our communities,” said McLaughlin.